Knicks’ Loss Stings Like Decade Of Misery

A prediction that was made by me yesterday morning on Facebook, that the Knicks were going to lose by 10 points and sure enough they did.. Check out the full story here…

2010-11 was supposed to be a season of changing fortunes for the New York Knicks. And in a few meaningful ways, it has been. Playoff bound for the first time in seven seasons and with a certifiable big three to call their own, the Knicks seem to have embraced the new decade — like fans of the new-look squad — while distancing themselves from the relative misery and disappointment of the one just past.

But when it comes to the Boston Celtics, Monday night’s 96-86 humiliating home meltdown was very much the same old story. The Celtics outscored the Bockers 33-17 in a final frame that saw both Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony all but vanish. Boston’s big three of Pierce, Allen and Garnett, meanwhile, tallied 25 of their team’s fourth-quarter points, as the Celtics seemed to beat the Knicks to every loose ball and critical rebound.

To say the game was a slugfest would be an understatement: Both Ray Allen and Anthony found themselves on the receiving end of errant elbows that drew literal streams of blood.

The fact that it was Melo who inadvertently caught Allen on the top of the head in the second quarter — only to get the same from Rajon Rondo at midcourt halfway through the fourth — imparted a karmic irony that was lost on no one, as barbs, barks and elbows were traded as much as butterfly Band-Aids in a truly heated second half.

The loss put the Knicks at .500 for the first time since Feb. 11, a 113-96 home drubbing by the Los Angeles Lakers. At that point in the season, many blamed the Knicks’ woes on the incessant Anthony trade talks and the toll it was taking on team chemistry and morale. Now, with New York having dropped six of its past seven and nine of 16 since the Anthony trade, chemistry and morale are again at the heart of the conversation.

Refreshingly, both seemed intact early, as solid ball movement and the efficient shooting of Anthony (15 first-half points on 7-of-12 shooting) and Stoudemire (11 points on 5-of-8 shooting) — combined with a shockingly staunch stretch of D that included a span of 270 seconds during which the Celtics failed to score — helped put the Knicks up 14 at the break.

After cutting the Knicks’ lead to six entering the fourth, Boston’s lockdown defense and patient ball movement began to pay dividends. With Stoudemire and Anthony both looking lost and unsure, the Knicks offense crumbled steadily, mustering a measly four points in the final 7:26, and no points in the final 3:28.

Using the frenzied Garden chants as fuel down the stretch, the Celtics closed the game with a playoff-level intensity unbecoming their typical March malaise. What was a still a two-point game with 2:34 quickly mushroomed to six, then eight, then 10, in a span in which Anthony attempted exactly zero shots and Stoudemire’s lone 15-foot jumper clanked off the rim.

All three Knicks-Celtics games have had a palpable playoff feel. But as the season nears the finish line, the likelihood of the first Boston-New York playoff series since 1990 is becoming more of a possibility. The surging Sixers seem poised to hold on to the sixth seed — if not steal the fifth spot from the stumbling Atlanta Hawks — and an equally favorable home stretch makes the Chicago Bulls’ chances of landing the top seed even more likely. The Orlando Magic, meanwhile, should retain the fourth seed, which they’ve held for most of the season.

That leaves the enigmatic Miami Heat, who may wish to stand pat at No. 3 — where they’d face a Philadelphia team they have yet to lose to — rather than risk a run-in with the Knicks, who seem to have their number of late. The Knicks and Celtics will meet one more time in Boston on April 13, the last game of the regular season for both squads.

The way it’s shaping up now, it could be the Knicks’ final pre-playoff chance to exorcise their many demons in what will certainly have the look and feel of a de facto Game 1. Monday, they were all on display, with rebounding (44-38), turnovers (13-8), and interior defense (44 points in the paint to 28) all once again finding the Knicks holding the short end of the stat stick.

But one demon more than any other will doubtless loom larger and louder: their fourth-quarter collapse. Having been outscored by a combined 25 points in the last two final frames against their old nemesis, Stoudemire, Anthony and the rest of the Knicks should by then know better than anyone the importance of execution and smart play when it counts.

If they don’t, the Celtics would certainly love nothing better than to teach them again.

Jim Cavan’s work appears regularly on KnickerBlogger.net

NBA: CELTICS OWNED THE BUCKS! 87-56

Ray Allen and the Boston Celtics take a lot of pride in their defense, so this one was a gem. For Milwaukee Bucks coach Scott Skiles, it was embarrassing.

Allen scored 17 points in just three quarters and the Celtics set a franchise record for fewest points allowed in the shot-clock era, routing the Bucks 87-56 on Sunday.

“I think playing defense perfectly is our goal,” Allen said. “That’s what we shoot for, but a team can still score while you’re doing that.”

Not this time.

It was the lowest score against the Celtics since they beat the Milwaukee Hawks 62-57 at Providence, R.I., on Feb. 27, 1955. The Bucks, who joined the NBA before the 1968-69 season, set a franchise record for fewest points.

“That’s about as humiliating a defeat as you’ll ever see,” Skiles said. “They got us on our heels and took our competitive fight away from us. We pretty much just gave into it.”

Milwaukee was coming off 102-74 home win over Philadelphia on Saturday. When the Bucks flew east to Boston, they lost an hour to the Eastern time zone and then another hour to daylight savings time. And when the 6 p.m. EDT start arrived on Sunday, they plodded their way to all of nine points in the first quarter.

“You could see they were tired,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “So, we took advantage and that was great, but a lot of it had to do with their schedule.”

The Celtics held the Bucks to just 38 points through three quarters — an NBA record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They clinched the new franchise low when Milwaukee’s Keyon Dooling missed a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining.

Nenad Krstic had 11 points and 14 rebounds and Paul Pierce scored 14 for the Celtics, who rested their starters throughout the fourth quarter.

Earl Barron was the only player to score in double figures for the Bucks, finishing with 10 points. Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings led Milwaukee’s starters with eight points apiece. Guard John Salmons was shut out altogether in 21 minutes.

It was Milwaukee’s most dismal performance since an 88-58 loss to Seattle on Feb. 21, 2003 — the day after the Bucks traded Allen to the SuperSonics in a multiplayer deal for Gary Payton.

Eight years later, Allen had a light workout with 30 minutes for the Celtics, who also got Glen Davis back after missing four games with a strained tendon in his left knee. Davis finished with nine points and seven rebounds. Troy Murphy added 12 points and seven boards and Jeff Green scored 11 for Boston.

The Bucks, who had won three straight, barely avoided the NBA record for fewest points in a half. Two field goals by Bogut in the final minute of the second quarter pushed Milwaukee’s score from 18 to 22 — just three better than the league record for futility. It tied the Bucks’ franchise low and was the fewest scored in a half against the Celtics ever.

The Bucks had more turnovers (nine) than field goals (eight) in the half and were outrebounded by Boston 27-17 in the first two periods.

by STATS LLC and The Associated Press